There are presently many kinds of apparatus utilized to separate liquids from particulate solids which are being carried by the liquids. For example, drilling slurries are made up of water and finely divided clay which carry cuttings removed from a well bore during drilling of the well. Apparatus and methods for removing such cuttings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. to Lott 4,571,296 and Lott No. 4,634,535. Apparatus for disposing debris from water is disclosed from Aman U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,386. Apparatus for filtering sludge from sewage is disclosed in Cawley et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,335,865. Apparatus for screening aircraft fuel is disclosed in Henry U.S. Pat. No. 2,376,874. Apparatus for separating the water from mining sludge and conveying the sludge from the mine is disclosed in Schlesiger U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,916. The above constitute the presently known prior art. As will later become evident, many of the slurry sources used with the apparatus of this invention also remove liquid from the slurry. Thus, the slurry received into the present apparatus sometimes may have less liquid to extract.
Portable dumpster hopper vessels, such as employed in this invention, are commercially available and may be purchased and modified or altered as needed. Other portable vessels which need to conform to certain industry or government standards may be especially constructed to meet such standards and also function as needed for this invention. An example is U.S. Coast Guard Standards for offshore installations.
Commercial dumpster hopper vessels are available from Galbreath, Inc., Winamac, Ind. 46996 and Roura Iron Works, 1401 Woodland Avenue, Detroit, Mich. 48211. Also, peristaltic pumps such as disclosed herein are commercially available with one exemplary model being the "Master Pump" sold by National Master Pump, Inc., Houston, Tex. 77206-0269.
Comprehensive information concerning solid-liquid separation of the different kinds is available in the book by Svarovsky, Ladislav, "Solid-Liquid Separation", Butterworths, London, 1977, and in "Process Design Manual for Suspended Solids Removal", U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Technology Transfer, E.P.A. 625/1-75-003a, Washington, D.C., January 1975.
The patents to Lott U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,296 and No. 4,634,535 Lott are specifically incorporated herein by reference.